Is Boards.ie a "safe space"?

endacl

jonnypacket wrote: »

I must admit, I'm enjoying reading the fallout over this on Reddit and the chans. Quite amusing. The general consensus is that the censorship of fat-shaming subreddits is wrong and hypocritical when Neo-Nazi subreddits are allowed to remain active.

Over here on Boards however most are cheering on the censorship. This place is so out of touch with reality it's hilarious. It's almost like Boards users are suffering from Stockholm syndrome after becoming accustomed to dealing with over-zealous mods and stringent mulit-page charters for so long.

I find myself wondering again..... You opened a Boards account to... for... what? Exactly?

And seriously? Why so much grumpy?

jonnypacket

Cold War Kid wrote: »

It's weird the way you come up with that in response to people just not liking people being viciously nasty to others who have not done anything to them, just be easy targets.

Why are you so nasty to Nick Griffin of the BNP?

Arsemageddon

Cold War Kid wrote: »

It's weird the way you come up with that in response to people just not liking people being viciously nasty to others who have not done anything to them, just be easy targets.

It's not really that weird if you read his other posts, there's a bit of a common theme running through them

KingBrian2

porsche959 wrote: »

Another newly registered poster using American Tea Party type idioms and ranting about the largely fictional 'liberal-fascist censorship' on boards.

Seriously, is there a factory churning out these bots? Is there a summer school they go to in Nebraska or somewhere? I've never, in my life, heard any Irish person use the expression 'liberal-fascist'.

They do exist, people who come out with obnoxious sayings and believe imposing values on other countries should be top priority. They say the old imperial powers were supposedly liberal which in effect meant savage African tribes be good now so bow you head to our symbols and monarchs.

Cold War Kid

jonnypacket wrote: »

Why are you so nasty to Nick Griffin of the BNP?

Well I'm not () but comparing him to people who have never done anything other than be easy targets is, as your posts seem to be going, highly dishonest.

The Adversary

I think taking the infuriating stuff and laughing at it to be better than outright censorship. One of my favorite subreddits is Neo Nazi or SJW where you have to guess based on an article whether the person is from stormfront or a radical feminist from tumblr. Would have you entertained for hours.

jonnypacket

Cold War Kid wrote: »

Well I'm not () but comparing him to people who have never done anything other than be easy targets is, as your posts seem to be going, highly dishonest.

You keep using that phrase "easy targets" like some people should be more protected from criticism than others. What makes an "easy target" in your view?

catallus

https://i.imgur.com/YFAZ3P3.png

I'm sorry, but it is funny

Cold War Kid

jonnypacket wrote: »

You keep using that phrase "easy targets" like some people should be more protected from criticism than others. What makes an "easy target" in your view?

Can't stand up for themselves, haven't provoked anyone.
You're mixing up "criticism" with "harassing" there btw - extremely dishonest.

Stheno

jonnypacket wrote: »

I must admit, I'm enjoying reading the fallout over this on Reddit and the chans. Quite amusing. The general consensus is that the censorship of fat-shaming subreddits is wrong and hypocritical when Neo-Nazi subreddits are allowed to remain active.

Over here on Boards however most are cheering on the censorship. This place is so out of touch with reality it's hilarious. It's almost like Boards users are suffering from Stockholm syndrome after becoming accustomed to dealing with over-zealous mods and stringent mulit-page charters for so long.

I'd prefer the censorship tbh


There's plenty I disagree with on here, and I've been involved in heated debate, but never been subjected to any abuse.

No one deserves abuse

jonnypacket

Cold War Kid wrote: »

Can't stand up for themselves, haven't provoked anyone.
You're mixing up "criticism" with "harassing" there btw - extremely dishonest.

Subjective. Fat people can be visually offensive to my eyes. Not to mention the smell and the dread of having to sit beside one on a plane. These may or may not be my personal views, I'm just presenting the argument.

endacl

jonnypacket wrote: »

Why are you so nasty to Nick Griffin of the BNP?

Because he earned it, I'd imagine. His views are abhorrent. He, in any interviews I've seen him in, or in anything of his I've read, and most significantly in those more candid moments when he was unaware he was being recorded, has repeatedly and without fail, revealed himself to be an odious little polyp, growing from what remains of the arse of British extreme right wing politics that began with the national front, and has happily all but withered away. And before you go for the 'free speech' argument, yes. I agree he has the right to say what he wishes to, and that that right should be defended.

He has the right to his views. I have the right to refer to him as I have above.

Cold War Kid

Cold War Kid wrote: »

Can't stand up for themselves, haven't provoked anyone.
You're mixing up "criticism" with "harassing" there btw - extremely dishonest.

But surely viewing them as easy targets is essentially part of the problem? I mean, it implies weakness, which, surely, in turn makes them think that they are? This seems to be the root of the problem. We need to make people more self-assured of themselves and then none of this would be an issue.

Buckling to PCness isn't solving anything, but instead is enabling weakness.

jonnypacket

endacl wrote: »

Because he earned it, I'd imagine. His views are abhorrent. He, in any interviews I've seen him in, or in anything of his I've read, and most significantly in those more candid moments when he was unaware he was being recorded, has repeatedly and without fail, revealed himself to be an odious little polyp, growing from what remains of the arse of British extreme right wing politics that began with the national front, and has happily all but withered away. And before you go for the 'free speech' argument, yes. I agree he has the right to say what he wishes to, and that that right should be defended.

He has the right to his views. I have the right to refer to him as I have above.

Agreed. But you don't have the right to prevent him entering the BBC to participate on Question Time.

Links234

jonnypacket wrote: »

Agreed. But you don't have the right to prevent him entering the BBC to participate on Question Time.

You mean you're against people using their free speech to protest something? Wouldn't that be... censorship? :cool:

endacl

jonnypacket wrote: »

Agreed. But you don't have the right to prevent him entering the BBC to participate on Question Time.

No, I don't. I don't work for the BBC. The BBC have the right to refuse him admission though. Fair play to them.

jonnypacket

Links234 wrote: »

You mean you're against people using their free speech to protest something? Wouldn't that be... censorship? :cool:

Learn the difference between physically restraining someone from entering a building and intelligent debate.

catallus

I think we should take a moment to remember all our fallen brothers and sisters who have been infracted/banned for speaking their minds.

Who'll think of them!?

OneOfThem

I think we'll all agree that anyone that's ever used the phrase 'safe space' non ironically is more than likely one step up from syphilis?

catallus

OneOfThem wrote: »

one step up from syphilis?

Genital warts?

Cold War Kid

Deleted User wrote: »

But surely viewing them as easy targets is essentially part of the problem? I mean, it implies weakness, which, surely, in turn makes them think that they are? This seems to be the root of the problem. We need to make people more self-assured of themselves and then none of this would be an issue.

Buckling to PCness isn't solving anything, but instead is enabling weakness.

Why would you call objecting to singling people out for harassment "buckling to PCness"? They're not remotely the same thing, and it's bizarre the way they're equated.
Constructive criticism and singling people (who have done nothing to anyone) out for harassment shouldn't be treated as the same thing - it's ludicrous. I understand people objecting to having to tiptoe around certain topics, but to actually start defending online bullying as a way of expressing this... that's getting too mixed up all together.

FouxDaFaFa

I heard murmuring that reddit was going to ban FPH but I'm surprised they did. In the past they've been so slow to act against other subreddits that really scraped the barrel, for fear it would be seen as censorship. When in reality, reddit is a company.

They only shut down the "jailbait" subreddit (featuring candid photos of underage girls, taken without their knowledge) when one of the mods, violentacrez, was found to be manufacturing child porn. (Shocker).

It opens up a debate, I suppose. There are so many awful subreddits that also brigade that have not been shut down. Red Pill have brigaded in the past, probably SRS too. And notably, a lot of the Healthy At Every Size (HAES) subreddits brigaded FPH in retaliation. So, even though people can obviously sympathise with why they would do that, a kind of self-defense, reddit can not give brigading as a reason for banning. It has to be because FPH and the other banned subs are hate groups. And if that's the reason, there are plenty more racist, neo-nazi, misogynistic, etc groups that should have been banned too.

I've just glanced at reddit and it is comedy gold. It is being referred to as "The Fattening" and the users of FatPeopleHate have started a Change.org petition in protest. A Change.org petition! You couldn't write it.

But the argument is pretty futile because a)reddit is a private company and b) when a subreddit is banned, whether it's r/beatingwomen or r/fatpeoplehate, it is instantly replaced. I see that FPH's reincarnation already has 15,000 subscribers and it was set up a few hours ago.

Cold War Kid

Cold War Kid wrote: »

Why would you call objecting to singling people out for harassment "buckling to PCness"? They're not remotely the same thing, and it's bizarre the way they're equated.
Constructive criticism and singling people (who have done nothing to anyone) out for harassment shouldn't be treated as the same thing - it's ludicrous. I understand people objecting to having to tiptoe around certain topics, but to actually start defending online bullying as a way of expressing this... that's getting too mixed up all together.

I'm not referencing online bullying right now, but the general PCness that does exist. Online bullying is terrible, but the truth is that it will never go away. Instead if we teach people to be self assured and comfortable with themselves, then the bullying won't affect them.

Not a NSA agent

Links234 wrote: »

People really abuse the term free speech a lot, it means that a government can't prosecute you for the things you say, it doesn't mean a private company has to publish it. It also doesn't mean you're free from consequences of your speech either, someone else is free to criticise you for it. Free speech, you keep using this term, I do not think it means what you think it means.

Often when a person is complaining about freedom of speech what they are actually looking for is people to listen and accept what they say. Ironically wishing to reduce the other persons freedom.

catallus

Jeez, this has really caused a ****storm over there, the whole site is being hijacked by keyboard warriors who are revelling in the whole thing. The whole front page is all about it.

Cienciano

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I heard murmuring that reddit was going to ban FPH but I'm surprised they did. In the past they've been so slow to act against other subreddits that really scraped the barrel, for fear it would be seen as censorship. When in reality, reddit is a company.

They only shut down the "jailbait" subreddit (featuring candid photos of underage girls, taken without their knowledge) when one of the mods, violentacrez, was found to be manufacturing child porn. (Shocker).

It opens up a debate, I suppose. There are so many awful subreddits that also brigade that have not been shut down. Red Pill have brigaded in the past, probably SRS too. And notably, a lot of the Healthy At Every Size (HAES) subreddits brigaded FPH in retaliation. So, even though people can obviously sympathise with why they would do that, a kind of self-defense, reddit can not give brigading as a reason for banning. It has to be because FPH and the other banned subs are hate groups. And if that's the reason, there are plenty more racist, neo-nazi, misogynistic, etc groups that should have been banned too.

I've just glanced at reddit and it is comedy gold. It is being referred to as "The Fattening" and the users of FatPeopleHate have started a Change.org petition in protest. A Change.org petition! You couldn't write it.

But the argument is pretty futile because a)reddit is a private company and b) when a subreddit is banned, whether it's r/beatingwomen or r/fatpeoplehate, it is instantly replaced. I see that FPH's reincarnation already has 15,000 subscribers and it was set up a few hours ago.

It's a funny reaction, but give it 2/3 days and FPH will be forgotten about.

harry Bailey esq

jonnypacket wrote: »

Leftists thugs regularly disrupt UKIP meetings and shout down the speakers in an attempt to silence them. BNP members are physically and verbally harassed on a daily basis. Remember the circus surrounding Nick Griffin's appearance on a BBC panel show? Mobs of keffiyeh-clad yobs hurled eggs and abuse at him to prevent him entering the building. These actions seem to garner applause amongst Boards users. Strange that.

I know a website that shows monkeys doing it.

hatrickpatrick

Reddit is going to sh!t. I believe this has something to do with it being bought over some time last year. It isn't the bastion of unregulated internet it once was.

EDIT: Reddit didn't actually change their rules regarding free speech apparently, they merely identified some subreddits which had gone from general discussion to targeting and stalking other Reddit users. That's fair game IMO and has nothing to do with "safe spaces".

Arsemageddon

Deleted User wrote: »

But surely viewing them as easy targets is essentially part of the problem? I mean, it implies weakness, which, surely, in turn makes them think that they are? This seems to be the root of the problem. We need to make people more self-assured of themselves and then none of this would be an issue.

Bullsh1t.

Spewing hatred about people because of their physical appearance while hiding behind a pseudonym is as irrational as it is pathetic. The sad twats that feel the need to do so are so desperate for attention and acceptance that they have to project their own weakness and insecurity onto others.

I doubt these fellas would have the balls to say in the real world what they post on the internet. It has nothing to do with free speech. It's just cowards and bullies being called out for what they are.

Cold War Kid

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm not referencing online bullying right now, but the general PCness that does exist. Online bullying is terrible, but the truth is that it will never go away. Instead if we teach people to be self assured and comfortable with themselves, then the bullying won't affect them.

Ideally, but it isn't always going to work out like that. There's a bit too much deflection of responsibility too.
I do agree you have to try not to let stuff online affect you, and ignoring it is essential at times - often it's only a reaction that's being looked for; nothing more.
But when it's personal harassment, often with a gang of people; when the person on the receiving end isn't as strong as they could ideally be... turfing the bullies out is hardly unfair.

Joe prim

Avalynn Deep Hedge wrote: »

Boards is quite dangerous. My friend Ms. O'Dwyer was robbed last week while browsing AH, they didn't take anything off her instead they actually stole her.

Idiot, they didn't rob her, they stole her, it's not the same thing at all,and i bet you're fat too.....

Cold War Kid

Cold War Kid wrote: »

Ideally, but it isn't always going to work out like that. There's a bit too much deflection of responsibility too.
I do agree you have to try not to let stuff online affect you, and ignoring it is essential at times - often it's only a reaction that's being looked for; nothing more.
But when it's personal harassment, often with a gang of people; when the person on the receiving end isn't as strong as they could ideally be... turfing the bullies out is hardly unfair.

I wouldn't necessarily say even ignoring it, but just not letting it bother you.

It just seems that in school they really need to find out some way of teaching self assuredness classes, so that future generations will be able to cope better.

Again I feel like I should say that I'm not for bullying - I was bullied, as many others have been, quite vehemently, so I know the damaging effect it can have on a person. But trying to shut it all down is as effective as shouting at the moon for rising; there'll always be bullies and they'll always find new and inventive ways to do it.

There's so many times where I am so happy that the internet wasn't as it is now when I was a teenager, because it's a damn scary world out there.

Links234

Oh, it turns out /r/fatpeoplehate was banned because they doxxed and harassed imgur staff, nothing to do it being made into some 'safe space' but rather reddit not wanting to be used as a platform to doxx people and spread their pictures and personal details around directing people to attack them. There's a difference between that and free speech, I'm sure everyone can agree.

Links234

Links234 wrote: »

Oh, it turns out /r/fatpeoplehate was banned because they doxxed and harassed imgur staff, nothing to do it being made into some 'safe space' but rather reddit not wanting to be used as a platform to doxx people and spread their pictures and personal details around directing people to attack them. There's a difference between that and free speech, I'm sure everyone can agree.

Were they the ones that sent death threats to some imgur staff?

Wibbs

Links234 wrote: »

Oh, it turns out /r/fatpeoplehate was banned because they doxxed and harassed imgur staff, nothing to do it being made into some 'safe space' but rather reddit not wanting to be used as a platform to doxx people and spread their pictures and personal details around directing people to attack them. There's a difference between that and free speech, I'm sure everyone can agree.

+1000. Saying [insert group of people here] are [insert opinion here] can have issues and can get downright nasty, but there's at least some argument behind allowing it, but saying [insert individuals name here] are [insert opinion here] is a whole other ballgame.

wes

People on Reddit complaining about censorship are full of it. If you don't like the rules, no one is stopping you from paying for your server and bandwidth costs, and setting up your own website. Now considering that some of these sub reddits, where fronts for harassing people, they may want to hire a good lawyer if they decide set up there own web site, as lawsuits and criminal trials can be expensive.

Samaris

Reddit acted perfectly within their rights and pretty sensibly, it seems. The reasons for that have been given on previous posts, so OP's post is rather disingenuous.

As for here, the mods are pretty quick to deal with bullying and posts aimed to attack people, and if one's smacked down undeservedly, they're open to being asked about it (as long as it's approached in a reasonable and polite manner - 'course, people don't always get that approaching anyone with a string of cursing and insults may not have the other person that inclined to listen to their argument, but that's people for you).

I dunno, I like having some form of system to keep some manners on people in online conversation without it being considered to be awful censorship.

AnonoBoy

Links234 wrote: »

Oh, it turns out /r/fatpeoplehate was banned because they doxxed and harassed imgur staff, nothing to do it being made into some 'safe space' but rather reddit not wanting to be used as a platform to doxx people and spread their pictures and personal details around directing people to attack them. There's a difference between that and free speech, I'm sure everyone can agree.

I love this. People spitting about "Free Speech" and "Censorship" etc. etc. and the actual reason it was banned was because people, not happy to just being ignorant c*nts who get off on hatred, had to go further and start doxxing people and sending threats.

Laughable little worms.

Also it amazes me how people don't understand that a private company doesn't owe anyone free speech.

Links234

Deleted User wrote: »

Were they the ones that sent death threats to some imgur staff?

Yup, that's them.

The OP's claims are pretty much utter nonsense, and one look at the kind of seriously disgusting subreddits that are still allowed will tell you they're not clamping down on offensive, racist or otherwise objectional content at all. There's still plenty of neo-nazi subs for crying out loud!

Links234

Links234 wrote: »

Yup, that's them.

The OP's claims are pretty much utter nonsense, and one look at the kind of seriously disgusting subreddits that are still allowed will tell you they're not clamping down on offensive, racist or otherwise objectional content at all. There's still plenty of neo-nazi subs for crying out loud!

Some of the ones on there are absolutely insane. I ventured into one or two of the deeper ones and walked out veeeerryy quickly.

Links234

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Also it amazes me how people don't understand that a private company doesn't owe anyone free speech.

To be fair, reddit does sell itself on free speech, anyone can setup a subreddit for anything, and the admins won't interfere with it. So from that point of view, yes they do owe people free speech because that's pretty much exactly what they're selling. But that pretty much just goes to show just how far removed from a censorship/free speech issue this actually is.

Deleted User wrote: »

Some of the ones on there are absolutely insane. I ventured into one or two of the deeper ones and walked out veeeerryy quickly.

Oh yeah, it's incredible the **** you can find on there, downright totally and utterly bizarre subs sometimes.

Links234

Links234 wrote: »

To be fair, reddit does sell itself on free speech, anyone can setup a subreddit for anything, and the admins won't interfere with it. So from that point of view, yes they do owe people free speech because that's pretty much exactly what they're selling. But that pretty much just goes to show just how far removed from a censorship/free speech issue this actually is.


Oh yeah, it's incredible the **** you can find on there, downright totally and utterly bizarre subs sometimes.

The ones involving cute dead people are absolutely disgustingly horrific.

And, yup, that exists.

Links234

Deleted User wrote: »

The ones involving cute dead people are absolutely disgustingly horrific.

And, yup, that exists.

Then there's some that just leave you scratching your head thinking "Why is this even a thing!?"

I trust you've seen /r/popping right?

AnonoBoy

Links234 wrote: »

To be fair, reddit does sell itself on free speech, anyone can setup a subreddit for anything, and the admins won't interfere with it.

I didn't know that - don't go on reddit at all so I was projecting the 'free speech?' cries that you see on here.

But that pretty much just goes to show just how far removed from a censorship/free speech issue this actually is.

Well yeah, it's not free speech when you're targetting specific people with threats. But yet people will see maintain it is. I've seen people on here claim that you should be allowed say anything about anyone on the internet with no restrictions which is insane. I don't think these peope think through what they're saying sometimes.

catallus

Links234 wrote: »

Then there's some that just leave you scratching your head thinking "Why is this even a thing!?"

Today I learned the word "hematolagnia" :eek:

Samaris

catallus wrote: »

Today I learned the word "hematolagnia" :eek:

I looked it up. My eyebrows entered my hairline.

Welp, guess I learned something new today too then :P

K4t

It gets tiring - if you say one thing, you're sexist, another thing, you're racist, where people are purposefully going out of their way to be offended.

Free speech doesn't exist anymore.

That is true free speech though. Free speech is the right to label someone a sexist, a racist, a homophobe etc. And while I understand the irritation whereby the overuse and incorrect use of those terms can cause them to become redundant, the alternative whereby someone like Breda O'Brien for example can sue RTE for damages after being called a homophobe, is far worse. That is the true chilling effect, imposed by the state, not silly SJWs or reddits or boardsies and so on.

catallus

Samaris wrote: »

I looked it up. My eyebrows entered my hairline.

I dunno, I'm sure there's some sort of social theory out there that explains why people go in for that type of crap, probably something along the lines of some sort of impulse to be weirder or kinkier than other people.

I mean, imagine having to clean up after that kind of carry on?!

Samaris

catallus wrote: »

I dunno, I'm sure there's some sort of social theory out there that explains why people go in for that type of crap, probably something along the lines of some sort of impulse to be weirder or kinkier than other people.

I dunno, I think it's probably more common than most people would admit to! I direct you to the works of Victoria Frances. Luis Royo isn't exactly agin the use of blood in a sexy image either (VF is generally -reasonably- SFW, but some are risque, Luis Royo's stuff, well, definitely not all of them, so hunter beware!). Mostly all the vampire soft porn in the last few years. I blame Buffy. Then Twilight.

catallus wrote: »

I mean, imagine having to clean up after that kind of carry on?!

anncoates

Ironically enough, the net is also a safe place for the people that do the extreme trolling of target groups mentioned, because in real life, most of them wouldn't say boo to somebody, let alone bully them.